The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced a series of upcoming events to celebrate the so-called "Golden jubilee of Jerusalem's re-unification", which marks the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.

For her part, Israel's minister of culture, Miri Regev, revealed that "an old newly-discovered tunnel" stretching from the south of the Old City in Silwan to al-Aqsa Mosque will be opened in conjunction with the launch of the golden jubilee's events in the Hanukkah, or the Jewish Festival of Lights.

Both Netanyahu and Regev attacked the UNESCO for its latest statement which confirms that there is no relation between Israel and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque. Netanyahu claimed, "The Jews have ties with the entire land of Palestine and not only Jerusalem."

In the Israeli government's weakly statement, Netanyahu said, "Jerusalem is Israel's vibrant capital and it is being reconstructed." He also added, "The 50th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem is a great event in the Jewish and Israeli history that will be properly celebrated."

Regev said that the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority will inaugurate during Hanukkah festival one of Jerusalem's old streets where the Maccabees used to walk two thousand years ago.

She added that she considers the project of discovering the antiquities of the Old City and continuing the excavation works there as an important national project for Israel in general and the Ministry of Culture and Sports in particular.

The right-wing extremist minister pointed out that the excavation works led to finding a coin belonging to the series of currencies that had been minted between 66 and 70 AD. She claimed that Hebrew letters were engraved on one side of the coin saying "Liberty of Zion ".

US President-elect Donald Trump top aide, Kellyanne Conway, clarifies during radio interview that Trump still intends to transfer US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as he promised to do during his campaign.

Though he has refrained from making many public statements on the matter since his election, US President-elect Donald Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway reiterated his plan to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt about moving the embassy to Jerusalem on Monday, Conway said, "That is very big priority for this president-elect, Donald Trump. He made it very clear during the campaign, Hugh, and as president-elect I've heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly.”

While former US presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush reneged on their own statements to move the embassy to Israel's capital after they had become presidents, Conway believes Trump will follow through on his promise.

“It is something that our friend in Israel, a great friend in the Middle East, would appreciate and something that a lot of Jewish-Americans have expressed their preference for," she said. "It is a great move. It is an easy move to do based on how much he talked about that in the debates and in the sound bites.”

Trump sat down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last September to discuss US-Israel relations. During the meeting, he reportedly told Netanyahu that he intends to have Jerusalem officially seen by his administration as Israel's capital. "Mr. Trump acknowledged that Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish People for over 3000 years, and that the United States, under a Trump administration, will finally accept the long-standing Congressional mandate to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel," his campaign stated following their discussion.The United Nations and most Western countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. All embassies to Israel are currently in the Tel Aviv area.

Unidentified gangsters, believed to be Israelis, stormed on Sunday evening a mosque in al-Khalil’s southern town of Dura and smashed Adhan kit.

A PIC news correspondent said anonymous assailants forced their way into a mosque in one of Dura's hamlets and smashed audio devices for reciting Adhan (Muslim call to prayers).

The attackers further cut wires and smashed loudspeakers in the mosque.

Beit al-Roush al-Fouqa hamlet council slammed the assault, saying a probe has been launched to track down the perpetrators.

The move comes a few weeks after the Israeli occupation government proposed a bid outlawing Adhan via mosque loudspeakers across the occupied Palestinian territories on claims that it is a nuisance to Israeli settlers.

A new video released by the Negotiations Affairs Department, titled “East Jerusalem: Israel’s Colonial Project Unraveled,” declares that Israel’s policy in the city, since the 1967 occupation, is three fold: creating a Jewish majority, reducing Palestinian presence and isolating East Jerusalem and dividing it from its West Bank parts.

According to WAFA, the 2:43-minute documentary describes the policy as one of “special colonial segregation enforced by Israel’s settlement enterprise.”

According to the video, Israel has turned 35 percent of the area in East

Jerusalem into land for settlement construction, leaving only 13 percent of the area for Palestinian construction, amounting to a severe housing crisis and forcing many Palestinians to build without a permit.

A total of 3,500 homes were reportedly demolished under the pretext of being built without permit, and around 25,000 more are slated for demolition under the same pretext, leaving 100,000 Palestinians at risk of displacement.

Israel also revoked the residency status of some 14,500 Palestinians in East Jerusalem under all variety of pretexts, while it built thousands of housing units for settlers and opened bypass roads for them through Palestinian land.

This policy created a Jewish settlement population of 100,000 in East Jerusalem, in addition to 200,000 on the western side of the city, in comparison to 300,000 Palestinians holding Jerusalem residency, and including 100,000 who live outside a 240 kilometer-long concrete wall and fence built to separate Israel and occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

“Colonized, impoverished and segregated.” With these words the Negotiations Affairs Department video concludes its narrative of the future facing occupied East Jerusalem and its Palestinian residents.

The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) on Friday threatened the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes near the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem.

According to a PIC news correspondent, Israeli municipality personnel, escorted by an army patrol, notified the demolition of a number of Palestinian family homes in Silwan town, to the south of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

The demolition notifications targeted al-Bustan neighborhood, whose residents have permanently come under Israeli threats to knock down their 88 homes in favor of illegal settlement expansion and Judaization schemes near the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli policemen were deployed in large numbers in the compound to pave the way for the settlers’ break-in.

Some settlers tried to perform Talmudic rituals in clear provocation to Palestinian worshipers who started shouting Takbeer in protest against the settlers’ presence.

On the other hand, Israeli police continued to prevent a number of Jerusalemite women from having access to al-Aqsa for allegedly being involved in protests against settlers’ presence in the holy shrine.

Tension remained high in and around al-Aqsa Mosque since early October 2015 after Israeli police repeatedly stormed the site and restricted Palestinians’ access into it, while allowing large numbers of settlers to access the holy site under heavy protection.